Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Sells 24,713 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lowered its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 12.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 175,653 shares of the company’s stock after selling 24,713 shares during the quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $9,185,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Altria Group by 2.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,159,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,679,000 after purchasing an additional 46,697 shares during the period. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 367,469 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,215,000 after buying an additional 19,893 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 240,454 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,573,000 after buying an additional 12,011 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,456,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,330,000 after buying an additional 32,318 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,508,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,935,224,000 after buying an additional 589,832 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of MO opened at $52.65 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.24 billion, a PE ratio of 8.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.25 and a 12-month high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. Analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.75%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MO. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

About Altria Group

Altria Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells smokeable and oral tobacco products in the United States. The company offers cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand; large cigars and pipe tobacco under the Black & Mild brand; moist smokeless tobacco and snus products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands; oral nicotine pouches under the on! brand; and e-vapor products under the NJOY ACE brand.